what should opera companies be doing for their singers with chronic illness?

celebrating a company that inspired this post

The past few weeks I have been sharing responses to the prompt "Singers with invisible illness....what would you say to the opera industry..."

I have had multiple people request that the next question I pose be, "What can opera companies do differently to create a safe space for their singers?" This will indeed be my next prompt and I'm using this post as a preview of sorts.

Today I had an opera company contact me

They reached out to ask if I would interested in covering a role in their upcoming season. I am obviously very public about my health so they were completely clued in on my background and current situation. They opened the conversation by asking

How are you doing?

They asked if I would be comfortable singing (inserts demanding role) by (insert date) and went on to describe how this would be a safe space for me to work in- physically and emotionally taking my health issues (both chronic and acute) into account. It was the first time I have had a conversation with a company about taking on a role with my conditions out in the open and part of the conversation. It was an honest conversation and it was a refreshing one. I felt respected, I felt heard, and I did not feel like any less of an artist,

quite the opposite.

I felt empowered.

The most common thing I hear from fellow singers is that they choose not to be public about their health because, "they are afraid of losing work" or are "concerned that people will assume they will not be able to do their job because having a chronic illness means you are always sick." I actually had a conversation last month with a colleague at a conference who said to me, "Wow, it must be hard being a singer if you are getting sick all the time." I explained that that is not what chronically ill means and they admitted they had thought that autoimmune meant "your body has no immunity." That person is involved with organizations that support singers with chronic illness. This is a perfect example of why The Chronicled Voice exists- visibility and transparency are key to making sure that- even the most well intentioned of- people are educated enough to adequately support their singers with chronic illness.

If you are reading this and thinking

Well, in our company we don't have people with chronic illness singing for us. This doesn't affect me.

You would be wrong. You have them, they are just too uncomfortable to be open because our industry has not created a safe space for them yet. Simple actions, like the ones taken by the company I'm praising today, are exactly the first steps that should be taken when casting inclusively. Never assume someone can't do a role because of their chronic illness. No two people are the same. No two illnesses present in the same way and it is a waste of many people's artistry and talent if companies assume a singer is less than or incapable because of a diagnosis that -I guarantee- the vast majority most of the people hiring do not understand. This is why advocacy and education are so important. We must get to a point where we are rid of the miseducation, the stigma, the stereotypes, and the ignorance so we can create a space where artists are able to focus on creating and not hiding.

We are clearly not there yet but in the meantime...

ask questions!

This is what every opera company can do for their singers with disabilities.

Respect them enough to just ask the very basic but incredibly important questions:

"How are you?"

"Are you able to do this?" and if so "What do you need?"

Then listen. Keep asking questions. And follow through.